PEARL’ s Shellfish Aquaculture Program
PEARL’ s Shellfish Aquaculture Program
Managed by Rebekah Borgert
The Morgan State Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory( PEARL) Shellfish Aquaculture Program is growing by the day. The program focuses on applied research to help the aquaculture industry grow.
Recent research activities have been in relation to the larval and juvenile stages of the oyster’ s lifecycle. The questions for our research come directly from the industry. We frequently ask farmers“ how can we help?”.
In the 2016 season, the hatchery had two undergraduate interns during the summer under the direction of hatchery staff. Both interns were trained on hatchery procedures, biology and protocol, in tandem with conducting high quality applied research. Interns in the Aquaculture Program conduct studies based on questions and issues raised by industry. Some of these are industry sponsored research projects, and others are funded by various grants.
One perceived challenge of hatchery production is the large skill set and sterile conditions required to grow algae. Upon feedback from the Commercial Hatchery Workshop in December 2015, PEARL and intern Samantha Waby developed research to determine costs associated with culturing larvae using concentrated algae. This included time of training an undergraduate to feed and maintain both concentrated feed and live algae. Competent larvae were cultured using only algae concentrate. The cost and performance of larvae using concentrate to live algae was evaluated. This research was presented at the 2016 Atlantic Estuarine Research conference in Baltimore, MD.
2016 Intern, Mariah Gugel looking at oyster larvae
Mariah Gugel continued work of a 2015 intern at True Chesapeake Oyster Company on methods to optimize production and product flow under hatchery staff mentorship. Her task was to optimize nursery processes as well as train farm staff how to set their own larvae. In tandem with these support services, this undergraduate compared setting efficiencies under light and dark conditions with varying volumes of culture space. In addition, she compared larvae set success under various conditions of manipulating light and water volume.
From feedback from the Commercial Hatchery Workshop held in Dec 2015, industry requested economic tools to help decipher costs associated with starting a private oyster hatchery. Inventory lists and spreadsheets were created with help from Maryland SeaGrant to assist businesses with the decision making process and business models.
Samantha Waby and Mariah Gugel, 2016 summer interns
Senator Ben Cardin, Bill Yates, and Dr. Kelton Clark on boat at PEARL
The aquaculture research realm continues to expand, as we are hiring an environmental education specialist to work with the Matthew Henson Earth Conservation Center and develop a curriculum to educate students about aquaculture and the environment. The PEARL is also hiring a geneticist who will focus on the oyster genome. Genetic research in aquaculture is fast-paced and cuttingedge, and will propel the program further.( Continued on page 12)
PEARL at Morgan Innovation Day
11